Jin dynasty (266–420)

The Jin dynasty ([tɕîn]; Chinese: 晉朝; pinyin: Jìn Cháo) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the Sima Jin (司馬晉) or the Two Jins (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had previously been declared the King of Jin. The Jin dynasty was preceded by the Three Kingdoms period, and was succeeded by the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China and the Liu Song dynasty in southern China.

There are two main divisions in the history of the dynasty. The Western Jin (266–316) was established as the successor to Cao Wei after Sima Yan usurped the throne from Cao Huan. The capital of the Western Jin was initially in Luoyang, though it later moved to Chang'an (modern Xi'an, Shaanxi province). In 280, after conquering Eastern Wu, the Western Jin reunited China proper for the first time since the end of the Han dynasty, ending the Three Kingdoms era.

However, 11 years later, a series of civil wars known as the War of the Eight Princes erupted in the dynasty, which weakened it considerably. Subsequently, in 304, the dynasty experienced a wave of rebellions and invasions by non-Han ethnicities termed the Five Barbarians, who went on to establish several short-lived dynastic states in northern China. This inaugurated the chaotic and bloody Sixteen Kingdoms era of Chinese history, in which states in the north rose and fell in rapid succession, constantly fighting both one another and the Jin. Han-Zhao, one of the northern states established during the disorder, sacked Luoyang in 311, captured Chang'an in 316, and executed Emperor Min of Jin in 318, ending the Western Jin era. Sima Rui, who succeeded Emperor Min, then reestablished the Jin dynasty with its capital in Jiankang (modern Nanjing), inaugurating the Eastern Jin (317–420).

The Eastern Jin dynasty remained in near-constant conflict with the northern states for most of its existence, and it launched several invasions of the north with the aim of recovering its lost territories. Notably, in 383, the Eastern Jin inflicted a devastating defeat on the Former Qin, a Di-ruled state that had briefly unified northern China. In the aftermath of that battle, the Former Qin state splintered, and Jin armies recaptured the lands south of the Yellow River. The Eastern Jin was eventually usurped by General Liu Yu in 420 and replaced with the Liu Song dynasty. The Eastern Jin dynasty is considered the second of the Six Dynasties.